Python Programming for Biology: Bioinformatics and Beyond

Computer platforms and installations

Python  is  available  for  every  commonly  used  computer  operating  system  including

versions  of  Microsoft  Windows,  Mac  OS  X,  Linux  and  UNIX.  With  Windows  you  will

generally have to download and install Python, as it is not included as standard. On most

new  Mac  OS  X,  Linux  and  UNIX  systems  Python  is  included  as  standard  (indeed  some

parts  of  Linux  operating  systems  are  themselves  written  with  Python),  although  you

should check to see which version of Python you have: typing ‘python’ at a command line

reveals  the  version.  For  a  list  of  website  locations  where  you  can  download  Python  for

various  platforms  see  the  reference  section  at  the  end  of  this  book  or  the  Cambridge

University Press site:

http://www.cambridge.org/pythonforbiology

.

Precisely  because  Python  is  available  for  and  can  be  run  on  many  different  computer

platforms,  any  programs  you  write  will  generally  be  able  to  be  run  on  all  computer

systems.  However,  there  are  a  few  important  caveats  you  should  be  aware  of.  Although

Python  as  a  language  is  interpreted  in  the  same  way  on  every  computer  system,  when  it

comes to interacting with the operating system (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux …), things

can  work  differently  on  different  computers.  This  is  a  problem  that  all  cross-platform

computing  languages  face.  You  will  probably  come  across  this  in  your  Python  programs

when  dealing  with  files  and  the  directories  that  contain  them.  Although  each  operating

system will have its own nuances, once you are aware of the differences it is a relatively

simple  job  to  ensure  that  your  programs  work  just  as  well  under  any  common  operating

system, and we will cover details of this as required in the subsequent chapters.

1

 The  name  itself  derives  from  Monty  Python,  which  is  why  you’ll  find  the  occasional

honorary reference to ‘spam’, ‘dead parrot’ etc. when arbitrary examples are given.

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